The Eugene-Schiffman Debate, Minus One, Plus One

Last night’s debate at Vox Pop between the two remaining official candidates in Brooklyn’s special election for the City Council — the ones who hadn’t been kicked off the ballot earlier in the day by the city Board of Elections — was supposed to start at 6:30 p.m.

At 6:45 p.m., Harry Schiffman arrived.

A little while later, it was announced that that the other candidate, Mathieu Eugene, had a scheduling conflict and would not be attending.

Eugene’s spokesman Scott Levenson explained his absence me this way in a text message: “Given the board’s ruling today regarding the other candidates he met with his lawyer to develop and make final decisions for our ongoing petition challenges.”

The debate went forward anyway, sort of, when Wellington Sharpe, one of the candidates who had been kicked off the ballot because of problems with his petitions, showed up anyway.

Schiffman and Sharpe — who said he’s fighting to get back on the ballot — answered a few questions from the audience and afterwards, an informal poll was taken of the (small) audience of who they’d support in the April 24th election. Schiffman got nine votes. Sharpe got two.